Harvey is confused and watches Scottie walk away. He's not sure of anything anymore. What just happened? He places both hands on his desk and closes his eyes. Why did he make the move to kiss her? He caught her by surprise with his audacity and he can only come to the conclusion that from now on, he has to be all in or not in at all. And today, he's not ready.
Scottie walks towards the elevators and as she waits, Rachel walks to her and lets her know that she is sorry that she got caught in the cross fire before.
Rachel then meets Donna in the conference room to continue going through boxes of documents.
« Hey Donna, guess who I just ran into? »
« Don't tell me that we finally signed George Clooney. »
Rachel laughs, « No, silly! Dana Scott was just on her way down. »
Donna frowns and pretends it does not bother her « hmm, she probably has some conflict against Harvey again... »
« I don't know what it was about, but I don't think that's it. She seemed pretty emotional about something. »
Donna does her best to hide her angst, and continues digging in the pile of papers.
When she gets home and pours herself a glass of Chardonnay, her mind keeps thinking about Harvey and what he had said about loving Scottie. She knows all about their history, their connection and in a sense, she should be happy for him if he is moving past his issues and making a step towards commitment, but she can't help but think of the hopeful words he has told her.
After her second glass, her mind is really curious to know what Scottie was doing at Pearson Specter Litt. Perhaps she should not be doing this, but she texts Harvey.
D: We were surprised to see Scottie leave earlier.
H: who's we?
D: Well Rachel, and then she told me so that makes it we.
H: I had to tell her something.
D: So you are telling me that you asked her to come all the way to your office when you could have just called or sent an email.
She can see the three little dots appearing, then they disappear. A few times. He is definitely weighing his words.
H: It was a personal matter, Donna. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get a few hours of sleep.
D: Okay then.
Days become weeks and the mock trial then becomes the real trial and they are working 15-hour days. One evening, Donna walks in to Harvey's office as Mike is drafting his closing statement for the jury. Harvey lets her know that Mike will be fine and he trusts him.
Harvey's tone is calm and he really seems at peace. « I'm telling you, he's ready for it. »
She's amazed about how he is handling this. About how poise he is.
« Alright then. Goodnight Harvey. » she walks to the door.
« Donnaaa? »
She turns around.
« Um. Why did you ask about Scottie late the other night? »
« Harvey... » She tilts her head forward, holding his gaze. It looks and sounds like a warning, like, don't ask me something I don't want to answer.
She answers nevertheless « I guess I was just curious. »
« I see. »
« See what? »
« Nothing. Nevermind. »
She replies with a confused look.
« Sorry. I didn't mean to make this awkward. » he says softly.
« Well you have, so...»
Pointing to his tumbler he changes the subject and asks « Hey, forget I said anything. Can I offer you one of those and we could just sit and listen to a record like old times? »
She opens her mouth to answer and hesitates only one small second before he continues, « Oh, right, I'm sorry. You probably have to go home to your boyfriend. It's fine Donna, have a good night.»
« Well... to tell you the truth, I have been postponing him for weeks with everything that's been going on here. I don't know if he would even call me his girlfriend. »
She sends him a coy smile. «Thanks for the offer, but it's late, I should go home.»
« Okay sure. Goodnight, Donna. »
Days pass and all his moves during the trial are not going in his favor. Harvey
knocks on the redhead's door late one night. He failed in finding grounds to a mistrial and he expresses that he has no choice but to turn himself in. They are having an emotional discussion, both of them on the edge of spilling tears.
« ...I don't want you to do that. »
« Why not? »
« Because I think you're worthy. And I don't want to lose you. »
Harvey grabs his jacket and opens the door. Donna is not sure if he'll listen to her. She has tried to reassure Rachel that it will be okay even if Mike gets convicted. Rachel would keep going to law school and keep her mind busy by working at PSL. Donna would be a good friend and be there for her.
Donna has also thought about what would happen if Harvey turns himself in and makes some deal to protect everyone. She can't imagine how much she would miss him, how she could keep going on with working at the firm without his presence. Not seeing his tall and handsome stature, not hearing his voice - especially the soft tone that he seems to use only with her, his deep intoxicating stares when she feels that he is looking deep into her soul. She doesn't know how she could keep working if he went away.
She goes to the door and adds.
« Harvey, go to the courthouse in the morning, sit with Mike until that verdict comes in and show him that you have faith in him. Like I have faith in you. » it almost sounds like she's begging.
Mike ends up pleading guilty and cuts a deal so that no one else has to face accusations. Mike goes to prison and the firm's existence is in jeopardy.
One morning Donna gets a call from Mike.
« Mike! Hey! why are you calling me, isn't Harvey with you? »
« He's not and he's not taking my calls. So he's not in yet? »
« No and he has a client waiting for him in the conference room. Any idea where he might be? »
« I don't know, you might want to call Scottie. »
« What business does he have with Scottie? »
« Oh. Well... Um. »
« Mike what are you not telling me. »
« it's really not for me to say, Donna. »
« Right. Now I see what he meant by something personal. »
About an hour later, Mike reaches Harvey while he's on his way to the office. He lets Harvey know that he put his foot in his mouth and told Donna about Scottie.
« What? Why would you tell her that! »
« Sorry, Harvey. You weren't picking up you phone and were late at office for a meeting, so I figured –»
Harvey interrupts « I was not with Scottie! In fact, I haven't even talked to her since that evening because I was so busy trying to keep you out of prison and keeping this place alive. »
« I'm really sorry, man. »
Harvey comes in as Louis is leaning at Donna's cubicle.
He walks slowly with his hands in his pockets and with a calm tone, looks her in the eye and says « Hey. »
« Hey. » she mirrors.
They stare at each other and they both stop moving.
Louis moves his eyesight between the two a few times and breaks the silence « Geez, guys. I gotta say that when you two greet each other it's like you're a couple. »
Donna ignores Louis, clears her throat and throws « Where have you been?! I had to send Louis over to the conference room to cover for your meeting that you apparently replaced for a personal meeting. »
Harvey frowns « Donna. We'll talk about this later. We have a problem. » he walks into in office.
Donna closes the glass door roughly behind her, walking with heavy steps to confront Harvey.
Harvey stands by his desk and places two hands on the surface, tilting his head down.
Donna starts : « How could you get in so late and miss that meeting. Don't care about this firm getting back on its feet? »
Harvey is still leaning forward, his eyes closed. He does not want her to see that he is struggling for air and trying to regulate his breathing as sweat starts to appear on his forehead.
« Harvey are you alright? Are you, emm. Are you having a panic attack? »
He does not answer and she is worried. She moves to him and places a hand on his bicep, than lowers it affectionately down to his forearm. She keeps walking almost past him and says with a calming tone.
« I'll get you some water.»
He stops her by grabbing a hold of her wrist.
« I'm fine Donna. I got this. » he still has his eyes closed and is standing still. Holding her has a calming effect.
« I just need silence for a minute. » he adds.
Donna stands beside him for a minute while his breathing settles, still holding her wrist.
« Does it happen often? »
« Actually, I haven't had any panic attack ever since-»
« Since I came back to your desk. » she finishes for him.
« Something like that... » He says softly as he sighs deeply.
He breathes deeply and finally opens his eyes and turns to look at her with embarrassment « Donna. Nothing is going on with Scottie. »
« Well, something sure happened for Mike to bring it up. »
« Fine. There was a moment, but then I realized that people come and go in and out of your life, but what matters is who stays. »
She smiles from the corner of her mouth. It gives him the courage to continue his line of thought.
« I learned recently that sometimes the best way to stop someone from firing bullets at you is to take off you armor. »
« What are you saying? »
« Donna, I can't take being at odds with you like that. »
« Me neither... »
« So, are we...good? »
She nods and she is smiling now. Still facing her, he takes advantage of the opportunity to get a hold of her two hands now.
« Donna. When things are going to be less crazy around here, what do you say if we go out somewhere and just enjoy each other's company and talk about anything but this place. »
« Sure Harvey, I'd like that. » she smiles.